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Read all about CAT 2019 question paper including difficulty level, topic-wise weightage, RC topics for both slot 1 and slot 2 exam. Also download CAT question paper 2019 for free.

CAT 2019 question paper

CAT 2019 question paper was released by IIM Kozhikode for slot 1 and slot 2 on November 29. The questions papers were accompanied by official answer keys and question-wise solutions. Candidates preparing for CAT exam must go through the CAT previous year question paper to know the difficulty level of the questions, marking scheme and change in exam pattern if any. In this article, you will get CAT question paper 2019 PDF for free download along with analysis of both slot 1 and slot 2 papers. Read on.

The structure of CAT question paper 2019 is same as that of question papers of previous years as the CAT exam pattern has not changed in the last five years. The difficulty level and topic-wise weightage of questions were different from previous years, though. Take a look at the break-up of CAT 2019 question paper of slot 1 below:

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Table of contents
  • CAT 2019 Question Paper: Section-wise break up of questions
  • CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 1
  • CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 2
  • Free CAT Mock Test for Practice

CAT 2019 Question Paper: Section-wise break up of questions

The question paper of CAT 2019 was divided into three sections having both MCQs and non-MCQs. The number of MCQs were more in all the sections and apart from VARC questions, all were of easy to moderate difficulty level.

Q:   What is the structure of CAT question paper?
A:

Till 2014, there were only two sections in CAT. Quantitative Aptitude was clubbed with Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning was clubbed with Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. In 2015, the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning were clubbed together and Quantitative Aptitude and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension made two individual sections. Since 2015, the sectional segregation has remained the same but the number of questions have come down from 100 to 66. The exam duration has also been reduced. Until 2019, the CAT exam was of 180 minutes and the total number of questions were 100. However, in 2020, the question paper structure was revised due to COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the total number of questions came down to 76. In 2021 and 2022, the number of questions were further lowered to 66. For the last two years, CAT is conducted for 2 hours, and the number of questions is 66. In CAT 2024 however, the number of questions were increased to 68. 

The latest CAT question paper structure is: Total questions: 68 Number of sections: 3 Order of sections - 1. VARC 2. DILR 3. Quantitative Aptitude Sectional time limit: 40 minutes VARC questions: 24 DILR questions: 22 Quantitative Aptitude questions: 22.

 

Q:   Which CAT slot has the toughest question paper?
A:
There is no pattern to which CAT question paper can be the toughest. The CAT question paper of every slot has unique questions. The examination body strives to maintain the same difficulty level of the paper across all slots but it may happen that a question can be more difficult from another. It is seen that, to keep the uniqueness of the question paper intact, the examination authority also changes the topic wise weightage a little bit across the exam slots. In most of the previous years, it is seen that the morning slot of the CAT exam is tougher than the rest two. However, candidates must not worry about the difficulty level of the slots as, the scores of all the candidates are normalised on a common scale to root out the possibility of advantage or disadvantage to any student due to difference in difficulty level. To know how the CAT scores are normalised, read this article: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/understanding-cat-normalization-process-blogId-9386.
Q:   From where can I download CAT question papers?
A:

CAT question papers are released within a week of the exam in the form of a PDF as a response sheet and answer key. Candidates who have appeared for the test are able to access the CAT question paper and answer key. The question paper of every slot is released on the same day along with candidate response sheet and official answer to all question. If any candidate needs previous year CAT question papers for preparation purpose, then they can download them from Shiksha website. We have hosted last five years' CAT question papers for aspirants to download and practice. These official CAT question papers are available for download free. You can download the CAT question paper PDFs at this link: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/cat-exam-question-papers Candidates must check and practice the latest CAT question paper to know the latest exam pattern and difficulty level.

Section

MCQs

Non-MCQs

Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

23

11

Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI)

24

8

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

27

7

Total

74

26

Also Read:

CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 1

Given below is detailed explanation of CAT question paper 2019, slot 1, including section-wise distribution of sections, topics and difficulty level.

VARC section:

The VARC section CAT exam paper 2019 had a total of 34 questions (24 from RC and 10 from VA). There were 5 RC passages of 550-600 words. Four passages had five questions and one passage had four questions. The topics of RC passages were:

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  1. British Folk Music
  2. Topophilia
  3. Emperor Penguins
  4. Internet Shopping and Choice Anxiety
  5. Origin of Story of Alladin

The VA section had 4 questions on parajumbles, three on out of context sentence and three on summary. Overall, the difficulty level of VARC was moderate to difficult.

DILR section:

The DILR section of CAT 2019 exam had 32 questions divided into eight sets. Out of eight, six sets were from Logical Reasoning and two sets were on Data Interpretation. Each set had four questions.

Logical Reasoning sets included:

  • Linear Arrangement in Super Market
  • Archery
  • Prizes to be put in 100 boxes
  • Coding
  • Streets Intersection
  • Dancers and Composers

Data Interpretation sets included:

  • Bar Chart + Table Crimes in States
  • Spider Chart on 5 vendors and 6 attributes

QA section:

The QA section of CAT question paper 2019 was of medium difficulty level. In total, it has 34 questions, out of which, 13 were easy, 13-15 were medium and 6-8 were difficult. This section had maximum number of TITA questions (11). The questions were from the following topics.

Q:   How many RC questions does CAT have?
A:

The CAT VARC section is dominated by RC questions. Out of 24 questions about 14-16 are based on Reading Comprehension passages and the rest of them are based on parajumbles, para completion, etc.

CAT has about 12-16 RC question. Since, it is not mandatory to solve all the questions, candidates can maximize their scores by leaving out the questions related to the passage they find the toughest. There is negative marking in CAT so candidates must ensure that they mark only the correct options or do not mark any option at all.

QA topics

Number of Questions

Arithmetic

13

Modern Math

8

Geometry

7

Algebra

5

Total

34

Get CAT 2019 Question Paper for free to know the types of questions asked in the exam and solve it to know the difficulty level. Click below to download.

CAT 2019 Question Paper

Download CAT previous year question paper PDFs

CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 2

The CAT question paper 2019 of slot 2 was same as slot 1 with marginal difference in difficulty level. Given below is detailed explanation of CAT 2019 question paper, slot 2, including section-wise distribution of sections, topics and difficulty level.

VARC section:

Cat 2019 question paper of slot 2 also had five RC passages with 24 questions and 10 VA questions. Out of five RC sections, four had five questions and one had four questions. Word count of all the RC passages was 400-500.  Apart from one passage all were easy to read but inferential in nature with very close options.

RC passages of slot 2:

  1. Dense Cities
  2. Google and Archaeology
  3. Distributing Bureaucracy
  4. Language& Culture
  5. British Colonial Policy

VA section had questions from the following topics

  • Jumbled Sentences
  • Contextual Odd Man Out
  • Paragraph Summary

DILR section:

The DILR section of slot 2 was also same as slot 1. The two DI sets on Scatter plot on Rainfall and spider chart on Profit/loss were easy and so was the set on Venn Diagram. Some of the sets were slightly tricky, like the ones on different rows/columns and teams with languages; while sets on tournaments, doctors and setting of the paper were difficult.

  • DI Sets
  • Scatter plot on Rainfall
  • Spider chart on profit/loss
  • Different rows/columns
  • Teams with languages
  • Tournaments
  • Doctors
  • Setting of the paper

QA section:

The QA section of CAT question paper 2019 slot 2 was much easier than that of last three years. A number of Arithmetic and Modern Math questions were easier. A number of questions had a mixture of concepts. Candidates had to qualitatively know various properties and concepts, and apply them accordingly to solve the questions. Like slot 1, this CAT paper too had 11 TITA questions in the QA section. The questions were from the following topics.

QA topics

Number of Questions

Arithmetic

13

Modern Math

6

Geometry

5

Algebra

10

Total

34

Practice:

Free CAT Mock Test for Practice

Check below free CAT Mock Tests by Shiksha for practice. Candidates can attempt these mocks to check their preparation level. 

CAT_Mock_Test_1 CAT_Mock_Test_1_Solutions
CAT_Mock_Test_2 CAT_Mock_Test_2_Solutions

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Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content
Vipra is a massive Breaking Bad fan. When not watching crime drama series, she spends time in updating the list of places she wants to visit and people she wants to meet, but she is happiest in the company of dogs. Read Full Bio
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